Thanks to Rick Santorum, the Kansas governor’s race took a very theatrical turn.

It wasn’t just because Gov. Sam Brownback hosted the former Senator in a $10 per head political rally at a movie theater in Wichita, but because of the fanciful and fictional fervor the former senator and presidential candidate brought to almost 100 fans.

Wichita Eagle Reporter Dion Lefler got to see some of the best over-the-top entertainment any theater has seen this summer. Not even the Transformers have blown up as many things as Sam Brownback has as governor of Kansas, and according to Rick Santorum, Brownback is equal parts Optimus Prime, Frodo Baggins and Ronald Reagan as he battles insidious — and usually imaginary — foes to save the free world.

I had no idea Kansas was ground zero in the battle to save democracy as we know it. Could it have been hyperbole when former Pennsylvania senator and GOP presidential hopeful Rick Santorum said, the “future of the free world” hinges on the upcoming gubernatorial election between incumbent Sam Brownback and his opponent Paul Davis?

Santorum went on to explain that Brownback is not only trying to save the free world, but Middle Earth as well.

“The other side is like the Eye of Mordor,” he said. “That eye that’s constantly searching. That eye does not have an eyelid. It doesn’t sleep, it doesn’t stop. It’s constantly searching to try to oppress and defeat.”

In that ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy, the wizard Gandalf said, “There is only one Lord of the Ring. Only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power.”

I thought Koch Industries was run by two brothers.

Whatever the case may be, unlike Frodo and the boys, Brownback not only fights orcs and evil wizards, but flying lizards are apparently circling Kansas wheat fields, and it will take a reincarnation of Ronald Reagan to solve these problems. I can hear Reagan now, “Mr. Brownback, tear down those dragons.”

Santorum says the obvious choice for that imaginary battle is Brownback.

“Sam takes on the dragons. He is the warrior,” Santorum said, according to the Kansas City Star. I think there has been some confusion in the Brownback camp. That’s not a dragon on Paul Davis’ campaign signs. That’s a donkey.

This rally had to be held in the balcony at the Warren Theatre East Monday night. I know you had to be over 21 to get, and I have heard a few people talk like this when I worked as the night manager of a hotel.

Usually adult beverages were to blame when they saw dragons.

Perhaps these breaks with reality are what cost Santorum in his attempt to be the Republican presidential candidate just two short years ago.

Page 2 of 2 - Santorum ran for president in 2012. As a write-in candidate in Kansas, I got 48 more votes in the general election than he did while spending far less money and wearing slightly fewer sweater vests.

“The New York Times has no idea where Kansas is, but they’ve written several articles hammering Sam Brownback, because Sam is a descendant of the American Revolution,” Santorum said. Actually, the New York Times, U.S. News and World Report, Business Week and some leftist rag called the Wall Street Journal have all done their own analysis of our state’s tanking tax revenues and they blame the Brownback socio-economic experiment for the constant and continuing drop in state revenue.

When he isn’t infuriating teachers by removing due process rights or supporting tax cuts that will soon lead to more and deeper cuts in our state’s education spending, Brownback is doing the bidding of his big money supporters.

Like Don Quixote, Brownback literally tilts at windmills when he supports traditional energy policies over clean or renewable energy in order to protect his friends at Koch Industries.

This race was a little crazy already, and Santorum did nothing to change that. Now that he is out of politics, Santorum is producing movies. He certainly has a flare for the dramatic, although I don’t know that the show he and Brownback put on will be a blockbuster.

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Kent Bush is the publisher of the Butler County (Kansas) Times Gazette and can be reached at kbush@butlercountytimesgazette.com.